9780008390662

the park
As Julia walks, I sneak peeks out of her backpack, like I always do.
We pass the meerkat family, poking out from their den holes like the Whac-
A-Mole game they used to have at Mack’s mall. I see the flashy flamingos,
with their one-legged balancing act. And the terrifyingly beautiful tigers.
Even their cute cubs give me the willies.
Families, I’ve noticed, take a lot of different shapes. Jim and Joe, the
penguins, adopted an abandoned egg, and they are the sweetest doting parents
you ever saw. I see it with humans at the park, too. Families of all shapes and
sizes and colors and genders and yep, they all seem to do just fine.
We round a corner past Sea Otter Alley. Oliver and Olivia are floating calmly
on their backs, holding each other’s paws. It’s pretty adorable, I have to
admit. But me, I don’t need the trouble that comes with family.
Babies puking. Toddlers whining. Spouses nagging.
Talk about a design flaw.